Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Arrelious Benn’s 2012 season could be a coming to a premature end. According to Mike Garafolo of the USA Today, Benn could be headed to season-ending injured reserve. Benn did not practice with the Buccaneers on Wednes

Colin Kaepernick will take all the first-team reps for the San Francisco 49ers this week, Alex Smith told ESPN Wednesday night. Smith told ESPN that coach Jim Harbaugh informed the two quarterbacks of the practice split on Wednesday.

Young quarterbacks continue to take over the league

There are two types of teams in the NFL. Those with franchise quarterbacks, and those looking for franchise quarterbacks. Since franchise quarterbacks rarely are available via free agency, the only place to find one is to draft him and hope he becomes …

Yes, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh reportedly has informed Alex Smith that Colin Kaepernick will be the starting quarterback on Sunday against the Saints. It was the right decision, and it was the right time to make it. Smith has played well under Harbaugh’s

49ers coach Jim Harbaugh told Alex Smith that Colin Kaepernick will start Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, according to a Sports Illustrated report. Harbaugh's decision is not based on health, according to the report.

The Seattle Seahawks promoted wide receiver Charly Martin from the practice squad to the active roster to take the place of safety Winston Guy. Guy was suspended four games on Tuesday for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy. Martin

Chargers’ Black Friday sale gets fans riled up

The Chargers plan to get in on the Black Friday action, with a 15-percent reduction on all merchandise available at the team’s online store the day after Thanksgiving. As Eric Wolff of U-T San Diego explains, the team’s announcement of the sale on its

With a trio of games starting early Thursday, we posted the PFT Week 12 picks a day early. We also devoted a segment of PFT Live to the picks on which MDS and yours truly disagree. Now that MDS has cut the deficit to four games, he can close the gap en…

Thanksgiving Day Picks: Texans and Patriots look to gain holiday momentum in the AFC

Houston Texans at Detroit Lions The Texans' usually excellent defense got a major wake-up call last Sunday, when they allowed 37 points to a Jacksonville Jaguars offense that had not scored more than 23 points all season. That Chad Henne replaced Blaine…

Ravens safety Ed Reed’s one game suspension for an illegal hit on a defenseless receiver was cut to $50,000 on appeal. Browns safety T.J. Ward has been fined half that amount, prior to appeal, for a hit on Cowboys wideout Kevin Ogletree. Like Reed, Wa

There was no question that the rattle factor was there the last time that the Giants played the Packers. The Giants not only defeated the Packers, who were 15-1 heading into that NFC divisional playoff game at Lambeau Field last January, they beat them …

Cedric Benson may still have foot surgery

Last week, there was optimism that Packers running back Cedric Benson could return to practice this week, six weeks after his placement on revocable IR. This week, there isn’t as much. Benson said he could still undergo surgery, which at this stage of

Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan has spent the last three days putting together a game plan for Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III, and he says it all comes down to playing physical football. Ryan said that when he prepares his defenses to pl…

Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer knows he’s going to get booed when he returns to Cincinnati for the first time since threatening to retire and being traded. But he said simply that he thought his Bengals career had run its course, and it was time to m

The Cardinals’ six-game losing streak started with Kevin Kolb at quarterback and continued with John Skelton under center. Arizona is hoping the third man is the charm. Coach Ken Whisenhunt announced Wednesday that Ryan Lindley will be the starting quar

Before the Vikings started practice on Wednesday, wide receiver Percy Harvin said that he would be on the field with his teammates. That didn’t turn out to be the case. Harvin didn’t participate in the workout and the Vikings will have to try again on

Undrafted rookie Lance Dunbar might be the Dallas Cowboys' starting running back Thursday against the Washington Redskins with DeMarco Murray and Felix Jones listed as doubtful and questionable, respectively, for the game.

Louis Delmas, Jonathan Joseph questionable for Lions-Texans

The Lions and Texans released their injury reports for Thursday’s game on Wednesday and they pretty much line up with what we expected. Lions tackle Jeff Backus is doubtful to play after missing the entire abbreviated week of practice with a hamstring i

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is coming off one of the worst games of his professional career thanks to five interceptions against the Cardinals last weekend. We’ll find out how Ryan plans to put that game in the rearview mirror when he joins Russ Thale

Bears guard Chilo Rachal has walked away from the team. The Bears announced today that they have placed Rachal on the reserve/left squad list for what the team described only as “personal reasons.” Family issues have affected Rachal in the past: When

Antonio Brown returns to practice for Steelers

There’s nothing like the arrival of a veteran receiver to help speed the healing of a young receiver’s ankle. A day after the Steelers signed Plaxico Burress, Antonio Brown practiced for the first time since spraining an ankle 17 days ago. Brown, the

Patriots’ Chandler Jones, Logan Mankins out vs. Jets

Rob Gronkowski isn’t the only important player the Patriots will be missing when they take on the Jets Thursday night. The Patriots confirmed today that not only is Gronkowski out for the Thanksgiving AFC East battle, but guard Logan Mankins and defensi

Even with the Pittsburgh Steelers down to 37-year-old Charlie Batch and newly signed Brian Hoyer at the quarterback position, few are giving the 2-8 Cleveland Browns much of a chance to upset the 6-4 Steelers this Sunday at Cleveland Browns Stadium. The…

A Black Friday tradition continues

The day after Thanksgiving has created an ugly tradition of guerilla shopping. Dubbed Black Friday years ago by retail workers who dreaded the experience and now spun by management types to mean that it helps honest businesses get “in the black,” it

The Bears were without Jay Cutler Monday night, but even if he was there, he might not have been for long. After watching his group allow six sacks to the 49ers, Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice didn’t rule out lineup changes. But mostly, he said t

The news is mixed on the injury front for the Cowboys heading into Thursday’s game against the Redskins. Running back Felix Jones, left tackle Tyron Smith and defensive tackle Jay Ratliff are all listed as questionable. For Smith in particular, that’s

A Ryan-Tannenbaum tug-of-war could be coming in New York

Four years ago, as the Jets imploded from 8-3 to 9-7, owner Woody Johnson declared that both G.M. Mike Tannenbaum and coach Eric Mangini would return. The day after the season ended, Mangini was fired. Now that the Jets are careening toward another seas…

The return of Fred Jackson to practice on Wednesday raised the question of which running back the Bills would start against the Colts this Sunday. Coach Chan Gailey answered it and the answer is one that will bring a smile to the face of anyone who’s be

For the second time in his rookie season, Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III was named the NFL's Offensive Player of the Week after a four-touchdown performance against the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday. Griffin completed an amazing 14…

The current calendar year started with the Steelers and offensive coordinator Bruce Arians parting ways. The Steelers said that Arians had retired. If Arians did indeed retire, his post-career equivalent of handing out carts at Wal-Mart has worked out …

The Jacksonville Jaguars announced that quarterback Blaine Gabbert has been placed on season-ending injured reserve with a right forearm injury he sustained in the first quarter of last Sunday's 43-37 overtime loss to the Houston Texans. In addition to …

When former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue convenes the appeal hearing in the bounty case, two key witnesses will be required to attend and testify. According to the Associated Press, a document sent by Tagliabue to the parties directs the NFL to produ…

Von Miller might have lost the league sack lead this week, but he did win AFC defensive player of the week honors. Miller had three sacks and two forced fumbles in the Broncos’ 30-23 win over the Chargers. He now has 13 sacks on the season, and it took

David DeCastro returns to practice

The Steelers may be running low on quarterbacks, but they got an offensive lineman back at practice on Wednesday. Guard David DeCastro, their first-round pick in April, has been cleared to return to practice. DeCastro has been out since tearing his MCL …

Only one man has ever thrown for more yards in an NFL game than the 527 that Texans quarterback Matt Schaub threw for last Sunday, which is all the explanation you need for why he has been named the AFC offensive player of the week. Schaub’s day landed

PFT Live: Week 12 picks, Wendy’s Rapid Reaction

With three games on Thanksgiving, there’s no time to waste when it comes to revealing the picks for Week 12. So we won’t waste any of it. Wednesday’s edition of PFT Live will feature Mike Florio and Michael David Smith’s picks for all of the games

There aren’t many people talking up the Lions as a playoff team, but they aren’t technically out of the running at 4-6 heading into Week 12. As Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press points out, the Lions made it to the playoffs in 1997 after start

Once Darrelle Revis was lost for the season, Antonio Cromartie became the Jets best cornerback by default. But a conversation with Revis prior to the injury convinced Cromartie he needed to grow up anyway. “It shouldn’t have taken for Revis to go down

Concussions could become a tool for managing quarterback controversy

For years, NFL coaches have used injury as cover for playing the guys they want to play. It was, for example, the “100 percent rule” that kept Vikings quarterback Brad Johnson on the bench indefinitely in 1998 while Randall Cunningham was having a s

Riley Reiff may start for the Lions at left tackle Thursday against the Texans. Jeff Backus, a mainstay on the offensive line for over a decade, is recovering from a hamstring injury, his streak of 186 starts in serious jeopardy.

ESPN removes reference to Jon Gruden leaving from PTI broadcast

We’ve noted a few times this season that speculation about Jon Gruden leaving the Monday Night Football booth to return to coaching could make for some delicate situations at ESPN. We’ve seen another example of that today. According to Deadspin, ESPN.

Matt Ryan trying to forget his awful five-pick day

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan can only pretend to have a plan on how to deal with this week. Having never thrown more than three interceptions in a game, bouncing back from last week’s five is something he has no background with. “You can’t worry ab

When the Eagles drafted defensive end Vinny Curry in the second round of April’s draft, the pick was widely hailed as a case of the rich getting richer at defensive end. Curry was expected to be a pass rushing option behind Jason Babin and Trent Cole, b

Browns VP battles brain cancer

As we prepare to take stock of the things for which we’re thankful, we also need to remember those who are currently facing serious challenges. In NFL circles, few challenges are more daunting than the one currently confronting Browns executive V.P. B

Parcells, Tasker back Belichick on Gronk decision

It’s no surprise that Bill Parcells would defend Bill Belichick - he taught him everything he knows. But Parcells, as well as all-time special teamer Steve Tasker, defended the use of Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski on the extra point team, even tho

Ed Reed: If NFL wants to stop concussions, stop the game

Ravens safety Ed Reed won his appeal of a one-game suspension handed down by the NFL for a pattern of illegal hits and will be fined $50,000 instead of missing a game and a game check for a lot more than $50,000. Reed wasn’t thrilled about the developme

Eagles fire VP of communications, that should fix it

The Eagles, continuing a trend of firing people who aren’t necessarily the problem, have gotten rid of their PR man. Apparently Juan Castillo couldn’t be fired again, so they dispatched senior vice president of communications Rob Zeiger Tuesday, acco

With a one-game lead in a division that has underperformed from top to bottom, the Giants could likely secure a playoff berth with a 10-6 record. But Giants safety Antrel Rolle’s looking at the toughest part of the schedule, and suggesting that winning

After spending last week trying to sniff out anonymous sources, and defending themselves from accusations that the clown car was beginning to role again, the Jets are on a different track this week. Coach Rex Ryan was notably humble early in the week, a…

Finley may be trying to talk his way out of Titletown

When I first stumbled across the story from Rob Reischel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, I thought it was from last month. It turns out the item was from Tuesday, even though the quotes were from last week. Yes, Packers tight end Jermichael Finley o…

Bills players and coaches donated more than $40,000 to help feed more than 900 families this Thanksgiving. The Dolphins like what they’re getting from return man Marcus Thigpen. Said Patriots coach Bill Belichick of the difficulty of playing Jets CB Ant

With a match up against the Detroit Lions and Calvin Johnson quickly approaching on Thanksgiving day, the Houston Texans could greatly use the services of cornerback Jonathan Joseph in trying to slow the Lions’ passing attack. According to John McClain

Anthony Gaitor to return to practice for Buccaneers

Second-year cornerback Anthony Gaitor is closing in on a return for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Gaitor will resume practicing with the Buccaneers on Wednesday according to the team’s official site after being forced to miss the last six weeks while on inj

The University of California-Berkeley made the decision Tuesday to part ways with head coach Jeff Tedford after 11 years of Tedford walking the sidelines for the Golden Bears. And Green Bay Packers quarterback and Cal alum Aaron Rodgers isn’t the least